When I decided that I was going to spend the summer before my final year of college abroad in Japan, I knew that I had to prepare for a trip unlike anything else that I had ever experienced in my lifetime. I knew absolutely nothing about the culture or the language and I was going with two of my buddies from school (both of whom spoke Japanese) so I needed to get ahead before we arrived. JapanesePod101 helped me do just that.

JapanesePod101 made it easy to review and learn from experiences that I had on my daily travels. By allowing me to learn from repetition, giving me the choice between verbal, written and visual lessons and giving me situational vocabulary, it definitely made it easier to pick up an unknown language.

However fun it may be to throw yourself into the unknown, it is always nice (and sometimes necessary) to have a little guidance. So here are my tips for optimizing the learning experience on a trip like this:

Go with or meet someone that knows the language

This person will be like your adviser. It is also very helpful to travel around with a person who knows the language because you can ask them questions about words and phrases that you hear during daily life and jot them down to study later. Which brings me to my next tip…

Carry a notepad

This is essential for learning a language because of all the things you will hear from just walking around and talking to people. The notepad will help you by giving you a point of reference to go back to and study, or look up with JapanesePod101, when you learn something new on your daily adventures. Which brings me to my final and most important tip…

I am a huge believer in learning from repetition which is why I love JapanesePod101. Whether you sign up for a free lifetime account or upgrade to premium, you have unlimited access to the content that is included in either package. Which means, if you are like me, you can go over it again and again as much as you want until it sticks. Whether you prefer to learn from verbal, written or visual instruction, JapanesePod101 has you covered. I love the videos with Alisha and Risa!

You can also learn about phrases for certain situations and events with the key phrases and vocabulary lists. Both included in the free lifetime account, the key phrases list covers all the basic phrases you will need to know as a beginner and the vocabulary list has all sorts of different phrases grouped together for different events and occasions. Including my favorite:

If you are planning a trip to Japan and need help learning the language, I would 100% recommend that you use JapanesePod101. It has tools for all different levels of learning Japanese, so no matter where you are in the learning process, you can use it to help further your knowledge.

But don’t just take my word for it. Sign up and see what I am talking about, you won’t regret it.